A component of the project or program management plan that describes how the scope will be defined, developed, monitored, controlled and verified is called the scope management plan. The sections from the scope management plan describe how the project scope will be monitored and controlled. It specifies how to create the work breakdown structure (WBS) from the detailed project scope statement and how the WBS will be maintained and approved.

The project management plan contains the scope management plan and the scope baseline. The scope management plan specifies how formal acceptance of the completed project deliverable will be obtained. It is also one of the elements of the project management that may be updated along with the requirements management plan, cost management plan, quality management plan, and process improvement plan and more. The plan scope management is the process of creating a scope management plan that documents how the project scope will be defined, validated and controlled.

The key benefit of this process is that it provides guidance and direction on how scope will be managed throughout the project. The scope management plan is a major input into the Developed Project Management Plan process, and the other scope management processes. It also provides clarity as to how project teams will determine which type of requirements need to be collected for the project.